IN the week that it was revealed Edinburgh Council is considering closing off parts of the capital’s central area to cars and buses, the local authority yesterday announced major roadworks for the south side of the city centre.

Already a frequent scene of traffic jams and noted for its poor road surface, the A7 stretching from Hunter Square southwards to Newington Road at Salisbury Place will be resurfaced at a cost of £1.5 million.

The council admits the poor state of the road, a main arterial route, saying: “This corridor has been prioritised for resurfacing because of its current condition.”

The three-month project gets under way on a phased basis from Monday. The main resurfacing works will be carried out after normal working hours with the contractor permitted to work Monday to Friday between the hours of 7pm and 3am.

The works will also include upgrades to three junctions, at East Preston Street, Bernard Terrace and West Richmond Street. Traffic signal equipment will be upgraded, pedestrian crossing points and footways improved and cycle parking provision increased.

For the duration of the roadworks, on-street parking will be suspended and some side roads closed along the extent of the works, although access will be maintained via temporary diversion routes.

The council says it will do everything it can to minimise the likely chaos, but it comes amid its own plans to make parts of the centre of Edinburgh effectively vehicle free.

Next month the council is to launch a Central Edinburgh Transformation proposal for public consultation.

A council statement said: “Edinburgh is expanding faster than any other UK city and by 2040 will have a population of 600,000. A growing city needs a city centre that works for everyone across all its functions. To pull this together we will prepare a plan that sets out a clear ambition for the city centre in the context of the wider city evolution.

“We want to reduce congestion in the city centre and believe the key to doing this is improving the efficiency of public transport and investing in walking and cycling infrastructure.”

In addition the Old Town Community Council has called for tour buses to be banned from the area that is part of the World Heritage Site.

The community council’s report says about the tour buses: “There are far too many of them. They are far too large vehicles, rarely more than half full, they may be ‘low emission’ but they still emit.”

The group also criticised roadside advertising, poor rubbish collections and tour coaches coming into the Old Town to deliver or collect tourists.

Tour bus operators have defended their operations, saying their buses are the second most popular “paid-for” attractions in the capital.

Speaking about the new resurfacing works, transport convener Councillor Lesley Macinnes said: “These are very significant works to vastly improve the quality of the road surface and travel experience for everyone heading in or out of town along the A7, whether they’re walking or going by bike, bus or car.

“We recognise that major projects like these unfortunately can’t happen without some inconvenience to people’s daily routines and we will make every effort to communicate alternative routes and to keep noise and disruption to a minimum.”